By Swami Harshananda
Buddhism literally means ‘religious principles and doctrines taught by Buddha’.
‘Buddhism’ is the general name given by post-Buddha historians to the religious principles, practices, doctrines and dogmas of the followers of Gautama Buddha. Though what Buddha taught might be regarded as a cleansing or reformation of the religion of his times, gradually his teachings have attained a distinctive character of their own. Hence they deserve the appellation ‘Buddhism’ or ‘Buddha-mata’ or ‘Bauddha-dharma’.
The four noble truths,[1] and the eightfold noble path[2] form the core of Buddhism. Ahiṃsā or non-injury or non-violence is a cardinal ethical principle. It emphasizes greatly that monastic life is a means to nirvāṇa[3] and Buddha-hood.
During the second Buddhist Council held at Vaiśāli[4] about a 100 years after the demise of Buddha, there was a split in the ranks of the Buddhists. The conservatives came to be known as the Sthaviravādis or Theravādis. The rest came to be called the Mahāsāṅghikas.
These two groups gradually evolved the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna schools. The former stressed individual nirvāṇa as the goal of life. The latter stressed compassion in addition, so that all can be helped in their attempts to obtain nirvāṇa. Mahāyāna flourished in China, Japan and Tibet. Hīnayāna spread in Srī Lañkā, Myanmar (Burma) and some South East Asian countries.
In course of time, buddhism also developed four schools of philosophy. Philosophical works on these schools were written both in Pālī and Sanskrit languages. These schools are:
- The Mādhyamika or Śunyavāda
- The Yogācāra or Vijñānavāda
- The Sautrāntika
- The Vaibhāṣika
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore